


Whist

by theoreticalwzrd



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, Execution, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 02:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14463255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoreticalwzrd/pseuds/theoreticalwzrd
Summary: It's been many years and Sakura finally returns home after studying her magic abroad, but everything is different now. Where is Syaoran? How has so much has changed?





	Whist

**Author's Note:**

> I started this before the Clear Card episodes starting coming out... Not quite sure what is going on with that plot yet, but I am imagining Sakura gets her old cards back eventually and access to the new cards shes finding now. If that doesn't happen, oh well!

Darkness covered the alleyway. She wouldn’t be seen here. Her informant told her there were guards everywhere, but they may not always appear as she expected. She turned her head around the corner to see what was around.

“Hmmm, the tree, the woman smoking, and apricots… Three.”

The street was a bit busy. A distraction may be needed. Or maybe a disguise. In her hand was two cards.

“Shadow.”

She was very quickly covered in an envelope of darkness, which was warm and comforting. An old friend, trusting and familiar. Lucid would have also been helpful, but she wasn’t sure how noticed they would be. She didn’t know what magic she was dealing with yet, Shadow should be safe. She still needed to stay close to the buildings or else this disguise would actually draw attention. But luckily as it was dusk, the shadows were already quite long, so they wouldn’t stand out too much.

She left the alleyway, stepping out into the streets. Not too fast, but with her body was urging her to hurry. It was almost time. The city center wasn’t too far away but she still need to devise a plan. She had studied the map. There were a few places around the center where she would be able to work without being noticed. There were four, she was told, and escape would be hard enough with one. 

She looked around slowly seeing if any of the guards had seen her. So far, nothing seemed too out of place. As long as the guards were under the power of the Sun and Moon, she would be able to spot them no matter what they looked like.

Sakura’s magic has developed over the years, but started by those powers so she knew them well. But, they didn’t know everything she had access too so she had a slight advantage. Her Sun and Moon magic had changed to Star Magic so it would be harder for these guards to detect, especially if they didn’t know what to look for. But, this advantage would not last forever, so tonight she had to gather all the intel she could in case she would not be able to make it back in town for a while. 

The city was very different now from when she was last here. Most of the residents knew of magic, but Sakura still needed to hide her powers. Most of the country had issued laws making magic illegal while Sakura was traveling around the world and studying other sources of magic. What the average citizens didn’t realize was that the government was using magic itself clandestinely, such as the guards she saw earlier. Those suspected of using magic were executed. How had it gotten so bad?

Not only was magic outlawed, but there was a limit on media as well. Stories had passed along through her circles that this was happening, but without those channels, she would have never known. But she should have suspected something. She had not heard from Syaoran for a while, but they had both been so busy lately that she did not think too much about it. Of course every once in a while, she would feel the emptiness inside of her as she thought about the choice she had to make years ago, but then she believed she was making the best choice for everyone. She also figured that the gradual decline of phone calls and emails was from him trying to ease off of her.  
But where was he now? Did they know he had magical ability? Was he…

Sakura shook her head and picked up her pace. There was no time to worry about things she could not change right now. This mission was a bit more than recon. She needed to get to the center of town it was almost time. Most people also seemed to be heading there. She could see the crowd gathering in the distance.

Nearby was what used to be Penguin Park, but the fun slide she used to play on as a child were gone. The swings where she once sat on with Syaoran and talked about their feelings were deconstructed, the ground still showing the remnants of the rusty foundations. Nothing was family anymore. Everything was removed and in its place, was a wooden stage taller than the surrounding people. Here is where they did their executions. How could they have changed this place so much?

Sakura looked around quickly puller herself out of the sad nostalgia. She needed to find a place to do her work where the crowd wouldn’t notice. She slipped behind a tree that was outside the main gate, the stage still in view but a safe distant away. On the stage stood six people, one who was speaking but she couldn’t hear what was being said from here. One was holding a lever. And four were…

Whoosh. The person pulled the lever and the floor dropped beneath the people. They hanged. Choking sounds coming out of them. Hands clawing at their necks.

“Illusion. Arrow.” Her voice was monotone. She still needed to figure out their escape.

The crowd watched in a mix of gasps and applause as they watched the people choke. But Sakura saw a different sight. Arrow’s accuracy had cut each of their ropes, letting the people fall safely threw the wooden stage. They were out of sight from everyone. But Illusion showed people no longer able to take in breath.

The people were safe for the moment, but she still needed to extract them. Eventually the executioner would realize the bodies were not there. She pulled a card out of her pocket and held it to her forehead. “Through.”

Before her, the ground began opening, forming a tunnel in the dirt. She ran ahead, as Through effectively drilled beneath all the spectators and up to the open area beneath the stage. There stood four people—an older man hardly able to stand, two people a bit older than Sakura herself, and a child that couldn’t have been much older when she started learning her own magic—each with a frayed noose hanging around their necks, eyes wide, bodies shaking.

“Who are you?” one of them pushed out through trembling lips. Their eyes had tears that already started dripping along their cheeks.

“No time, we need to move!” Sakura moved out from the opening pointing through the tunnel, her hand on the child’s back guiding them forward. One of the young adults nodded as they both started going through. The old man would need some help. Walking over to be parallel with me, Sakura grabbed his arm. “Here, lead across my shoulder. At some point the executioners will know you are missing.”

Cautiously, the man let her guide his arm over her shoulders. She took one quick look up through the trapped door where Illusion was still occupying the attention of the crowd before steadily leading him through the tunnel. It seemed his ankle has shattered during the fall. There was a sting in her gut, but she did not have time to summon Float. This was better than nothing.

As they hurried through the tunnel, she called out to her cohorts, “Continue down the alleyway and turn towards the moonlight! We will follow.”

The young child’s hand was grabbed by one of the people around Sakura’s age and the two of them started to run. The other one of the three lingered a moment before following. The would find her group eventually and no one will be looking for them yet. She still needed to figure out what to do with this man.

Sakura stepped in front of the man and squatted down. “Grab around my neck and get on my back. We need to move quickly.”  
The man, stuttered trying to find the words, the questions he wanted to ask, but nothing formed. 

“Please,” Sakura begged. Illusion wouldn’t last much longer. She already felt herself getting weaker. She wasn’t sure how much more she would be able to do right now.

The man put his arms around her neck and Sakura lifted his thighs around her back, hooking her arms under his legs. His weight was not too much. She wouldn’t be able to run, but she could walk for a while at least, until she could meet up with them.

The alleyway seemed so long, but she already put some distance between her and the city center. Suddenly she felt a card reappear in her pocket. Her clock had run out. Guards would be looking for them now, once they understood the seen before them. 

Did the other three escape? She didn’t see them. What if they didn’t follow her directions? What if they tried to go home to their families? That was something they couldn’t do anymore. But what would she have done if she was scared and in this situation?

The alleyway opened up to a residential area. Sakura continued to carry the man. It was a bit farther to the meet up and would take her a few more minutes. Then extraction should be pretty-

“Hey! What do you think you are doing?” Light shined in Sakura’s face blinding her view.


End file.
